Might Dan Bylma be tinkering with the idea of moving his star 19 year old Jack Eichel off the face-off dot to the wing to see if that will get him scoring again?
Eichel hasn't record a point in five straight games. That is hardly a crisis at this point in #15's rookie NHL season. In 32 games, Eichel has scored 9 goals and has added 5 assists.
How can his coaches get more scoring from the power center?
Sabres GM Tim Murray told WGR radio on Thursday night that Eichel may make some cameos tonight and in the future at left wing.
Murray said that he met with Bylsma on Wednesday "to throw some things out there". Murray noted that he often has conversations with Bylsma and the players individually in an attempt to create more results. Murray said that from where he watches games from high up above is very easy. He said that the coaches have the hardest job at ice level.
To that end, Murray's meeting with Bylsma led to a Thursday morning meeting with the head coach and Eichel. The two men discussed "opportunities" that may get Eichel back on th escore sheet sooner than later. One of the ideas that Bylsma presented to Eichel was having the second overall draft pick play left wing in some situations. Murray said that we may see Eichel running the left wing with Ryan O'Reilly and Evander Kane. Or, Eichel with ROR and Reinhart.
Murray said that the meeting between Eichel and Bylsma was to educate and inform Jack of the opportunity should the head coach call his number inside teh game. In other words, he Bylsma would not b giving Eivchel a pop quiz that he didn't study for. He wants Eichel to embrace the opportunity and be ready to compete the moment his number is called to play left wing with similar play makers as himself.
Murray said that Eichel would play his natural center position, however, he would be used for 40 second or so with a center and a right winger.
It's an interesting and exciting idea to say the least. One of which I am in 100% agreement with. Let ROR get Jack and Evander the puck and vice versa.
I'm digging the idea of having Eichel play the role as double agent. It will drive opposing coaches and players crazy trying to counter the matchup.
Hashtag LOVE IT
Talk about a Merry Christmas!
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Greetings from the Ted Darling Memorial Press Box high atop the First Niagara Center in balmy Buffalo, NY.
It's a tale of two desperate teams looking for two pints tonight.
The Sabres find themselves in the grind of three games in four nights and ten games in 19 nights. The host Anaheim tonight and then Patrick Kane and Chicago on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 pm.
After a six day layoff, the struggling Ducks finally return to game action against the pesky Buffalo Sabres. The Ducks have played just one game in their past ten days.
Pittsburgh native John Gibson will make his eighth consecutive start in net for the Ducks. The 22-year-old is 4-3-1 with a 1.74 GAA and robust .934 save percentage in eight games this season. Gibson ranks second among league leaders in GAA, tied for fifth in SV%. He has two shutouts.
Gibson was pulled after two periods in Anaheim’s 5-1 loss against Carolina last Friday night. Freddy Andersen was summoned from the bullpen to mop up the mess.
Andersen lost his net to Gibson two weeks ago when he was taken hostage by a nasty flu bug. Andersen is finally health, however, he is forced to sit and watch Gibson for now.
Goaltending has been the least of the worries for the Ducks this uneven season. As a team, the Ducks have scored only 56 goals in their 29 games played. Their goal differential is an uncharacteristic -17 right now. The Ducks can't buy goals to save their lives these days. That will have to change if they are going to muscle their way out of last place in the Western Conference and the Pacific Division if they are serious about earning a playoff berth.
Ducks head coach Bruce Boudreau spoke about his two goalies after a brief morning skate on Thursday morning.
“They both want to be the #1, so I think it starts in practice and they'll both be practicing harder,… Boudreau said. “When they get into games, like Gibson tonight, he has to know he's got to play his best. There's no rest. Freddie's waiting for the chance because he wants to show that he can still do it. I think it's a good inner competition. They both get along well. It's not a competition where there both are at each other's throat every day."
Dan Bylsma will send Chad Johnson to the four by six for the Sabres. Johnson is 8-9-1 with a 2.46 GAA and .911 SV% in 20 games started.
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Ducks D-man Clayton Stoner said Thursday morning that he and his team are anticipating the Sabres to start fast.
“They’re a young team that's going to be full of energy,… said Stoner. They’re going to come out and play hard and use that energy to create momentum against us on the forecheck. If we can come out early and shut down some of that energy and put some shots on net and drive the net a little bit more, I think we’ll create some chances. If we get one early, we can shut down some of their momentum.…
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Ducks D Cam Fowler told me after the game day skate that the secret for success tonight is his team has to get pucks in behind the Buffalo D and establish a heavy fore check. Fowler said that his team has endured several difficult practices while idle in SoCal. He said that it will be refreshing for his team to hit strangers in the heat of the moment and create chances tonight.
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